Tesla just crushed its most recent crisis - here's a look back at the ones it's overcome in the past

The degree to which the financial crisis damaged Tesla isn't much discussed, but this wasn't a pleasant period for the company.

With the economy seized up, Tesla was largely on its own as other electric-vehicle startups dropped left and right. Credit wasn't flowing, and the auto market in the US fell to a catastrophic 10-million annual sales pace.

Nobody was sure there would be a market for all-electric vehicles, if and when the market recovered. Tesla, after having just stared into the abyss of bankruptcy, was staring over a cliff of permanently lowered expectations.

Tesla's market cap is now $50 billion, more than Ford's and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. But it's 2010 IPO was relatively unremarkable, raising just over $225 million with shares priced at $17.

For the next three years, shares were flat and while Tesla was much-discussed and the US auto industry recovered, the company was under-the-radar financially and had to undertake additional stock offerings to pay its bills.

When asked, Musk will actually say that what he started calling "Production Hell" with the Model X SUV actually dated back to Tesla's first experience with manufacturing struggles when it launched the Model S.

But for the sake of convenience, I generally think of Production Hell 1.0 as occurring with the Model X (and extending in to Production Hell 2.0 with the Model 3).

Musk has been unapologetic about how foolhardy Tesla was in over-designing its first SUV. From the exotic, upswinging falcon-wing doors to a balky original concept for the rear seats, The Model X was decried by the CEO as an example of Tesla's hubris.

It took about six months in 2016 for Tesla to get the vehicle back on track.

Tesla acquired struggling solar-panel financing-and-installation company SolarCity in 2016. With Musk as Chairman and his cousin as CEO, the $2-billion deal raised eyebrows — and ultimately sent Tesla shares plunging in early 2017.

There were good reasons for this, mainly related to the sheer amount of extra debt it added to Tesla's balance sheet. It also raised questions about corporate governance, given that Musk would become CEO of the conjoined firms.

The slide didn't last, however, and through 2017, Tesla spiked higher, at one point threatening $400 per share.